Holy: A Great Opportunity for a Winning RunMonday, 19th Aug 2019 16:53

Town goalkeeper Tomas Holy agrees the club’s next three games, starting with tomorrow’s visit of AFC Wimbledon to Portman Road, represent a massive opportunity to climb towards the top of the League One table.

Manager Paul Lambert and his team have yet to lose in the league, having amassed five points from their first three fixtures of the new campaign, and a trip to Bolton next Saturday followed by a home clash against Shrewsbury a week later will bring down the curtain on August.

Holy, 27, said: “Two of the three games we have played were against, in my opinion, two of the toughest sides in this competition.

“We are still unbeaten in the league and that is good for us psychologically. With all due respect to the other teams, we now have a great opportunity to get on a winning run and take nine points.

“Ipswich is maybe the biggest club in League One and we want to win every single game, and get back to the Championship.”

But the Czech was quick to warn: “The games will not be easy. They will be very, very tough and I know from my time with Gillingham how it is when the smaller clubs face the bigger clubs. Basically, they have nothing to lose.

“They are not expected to win these games against the big clubs and they know most of their points will come from the games against the other smaller clubs.

“I’m going to repeat myself but the next three games give us a big opportunity to get back to winning ways, score a few goals and, hopefully, keep some clean sheets.

“I think clean sheets are the key to us being successful this season. We need to keep as many as possible, especially if we score just one goal.

“I am very hopeful but there are other things that make the next three games a great opportunity. The strikers will be hoping to score more goals. We want to keep clean sheets but in 90 minutes anything can happen and even if we concede we can still win games and be happy.”

Asked to assess his form so far in Town colours, Holy added: “My problem is that I’m a perfectionist, so there are not too many times when I am completely happy with my performance. I am usually thinking I could have done better and will do better next time.

“I am very rarely thinking ‘I did brilliantly’. For example, last season I played around 50 games for Gillingham and only maybe twice did I think I had done pretty well and could be pleased with my performance.

“Even after a clean sheet at Burton I was thinking there were still a few things I needed to work on, especially that thing that happened near the end when my clearance rebounded off their player and the ball went just inches past the post.

“Against Sunderland, I thought maybe I could have been in a better position before the goal we conceded, and for the second goal at Peterborough maybe I could have done better, I don’t know.

“People who have never played as a goalkeeper would maybe think it was a good performance, but I have to analyse each game and look at the smallest of details.”

Holy was quick to distance himself from the notion that he had somehow played his part in Town’s stoppage-time equaliser in the 2-2 draw at London Road when he raced upfield to add his considerable height to the situation that saw skipper Luke Chambers level with a header from a pinpoint corner by Idris El Mizouni.

He smiled: “I don’t think I played any part in that goal. It was just a great cross from Idris and a brilliantly-timed header from Chambo. It was a great, great job from both of them.

“With my size I maybe – maybe – made their players think about me. Maybe they were thinking ‘Oh my God, he’s big’ and I was another body to block out but, no, I don’t think I played any part.

“The manager told me to go up but I’m not a striker and I don’t really know how to behave in that situation. I just decided to make them think about me but if I had scored I have no idea what would have happened.

“I prefer not to be in that situation because, obviously, it means we are a goal down. I would prefer to stay in my area and for us to have everything under control before we reach that stage of the game. I have never scored from that type of situation, certainly not in professional football.”

Play Football, Lose WeightIpswich places available now. Save 50% of your registration fee by clicking here, and we'll donate £5 to Prostate Cancer UK. Read more in our blog about how it works and how 95% of members lose weight.

Photo: TWTD

Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.

I used to play up front, many years ago, but I was rubbish in the air. One of the midfielders I used to play with bawled at me every time there was a high ball and for a change I used to go and challenge the defender. He had no idea how clueless I was with my head, but the added pressure almost always resulted in a bad clearance. I even won the ball once!

So yes, I reckon Tomas's huge presence at the corner probably had an effect.